11.3 Placement, Pet Immunity, Masking, and Walk-Test
Key Takeaways
- 19 NYCRR 195.1 names motion detectors in installation, maintaining, and servicing — placing, inspecting, testing, or replacing them on an alarm system is licensed work.
- Mounting height and coverage pattern come from that model's listing and instructions, not from a single Uniform Code height for all PIRs.
- Do not aim security motion at HVAC airstreams, untreated sunlit glass, or stair runs that inflate pet signatures.
- Lens spray, paint, stickers, and covers are masking, trouble, or sabotage issues; factory segment masks applied per instructions are different.
- Walk-test catch paths, nuisance paths, and look-down/creep zones; pet-immune pound figures are manufacturer listings, not a statewide code limit.
Placement is where the eight-hour motion block becomes a New York job. A correctly chosen PIR or dual-tech still false-alarms, or fails to catch, if it is aimed at the wrong physics. Independent OpenExamPrep teaching for the Security or Fire Alarm Installer exam treats placement, pet-immune listings, masking, and walk-test as licensed application of 19 NYCRR 195.1 devices — not as decorating tips.
195.1: motion detectors are alarm devices
195.1(a) includes devices that signal movement in the definition of a security or fire alarm system. 195.1(c) lists motion detectors in the equipment whose placing and connection is installation, along with programming of access codes, protocol, bypass, and hours of operation. 195.1(d) includes inspection and testing of motion detectors as maintaining. 195.1(e) includes repair, troubleshooting, and replacement of motion detectors as servicing. An employee who only helps aim a PIR is still in the licensed activity if the work is on an alarm system. Assisting is defined in 195.1(f) and is tied to the ID-card rules in Chapter 3.
A wireless PIR, a bus-wired addressable motion sensor, and a conventional end-of-line zone PIR are all motion detectors for this purpose. 195.1(c) excludes single-station battery-operated smoke alarms from the installation list; it does not exclude security motion. Line-voltage connections to an outlet, junction box, or power panel remain outside the alarm-system definition in 195.1(a) — that does not let an unlicensed person mount the PIR.
This chapter is still security motion. A ceiling occupancy sensor that only switches lights is not a 195.1 motion detector unless it is actually used as part of an alarm system that signals intrusion or similar events. Fire detection devices belong in Module 4.
Mounting height and pattern come from the listing
There is no single Uniform Code mounting height for every security PIR. The instruction sheet and listing drawing for that model set a height window, a coverage distance, and whether look-down is included. Many wall-mount residential PIRs list a band around typical interior wall heights; data sheets often speak in a window such as about 6.5 to 8.5 feet. Treat any number you remember from one catalog as that listing, not as a DOS regulation. Ceiling dual-tech and 360-degree units have different drawings. Mounting above or below the window can destroy pet immunity, kill look-down, or aim the long curtains into a stairwell.
Level the unit. A crooked PIR throws curtains into the floor or the ceiling. Use the listed bracket or swivel; a homemade angle washer is not a listing method.
Where not to aim
Security motion watches contrast and Doppler, so you keep those stimuli off the field unless the listing says the unit can handle them.
| Aiming problem | Why it hurts | Better application |
|---|---|---|
| HVAC supply or return | PIR sees moving hot/cold air; ultrasonic sees drafts; microwave may see blowing debris or vibrating registers | Aim across the room, not at the register; keep units out of the airstream |
| Sunlit glass, untreated windows | Thermal contrast, moving shadows, white-light load beyond what immunity was evaluated for | Use a curtain PIR along the glass wall, or protect glass with contacts or glass-break (Chapter 12); do not stare a volumetric PIR through west glass |
| Stairs, especially with pets | A pet climbing looks larger and closer; people on stairs cross many zones | Use pet-listed models only as listed; prefer contacts on the stair door; never rely on a downstairs PIR to cover an upper hall |
| Directly at a door with entry delay | Nuisance during entry if interior is not shunted correctly | Interior follower or delay programming plus placement that watches the room, not the knob |
| Microwave toward a thin partition or window | Energy leaks; outside motion reports | Reduce range, re-aim, or change technology |
| Behind furniture, curtains, or stock | Optical or microwave blockage; AND dual-tech goes blind on one channel | Clear the listed field; educate the owner |
Do not mount a PIR so a person can walk the wall beneath it unless look-down is listed and verified. Do not use the detector as a coat hook.
Pet immunity, again as a listing
Section 11.2 introduced pet immunity as a manufacturer listing. Placement is how that listing lives or dies. Mount at the listed height. Do not angle the unit down at the floor to see the hallway better if that voids the pet claim. Keep pet beds, furniture-back walkways, and cat trees out of the lower zones. If the household has a large dog, a climbing cat, or both, read the actual listed conditions — weight, number of animals, height — or choose a different sensor strategy (contacts, curtains at glass, beams). Inventing New York allows 80 pounds is an exam-fail answer.
Masking, spray, and sabotage
Masking means blocking the sensor so it cannot see. It is a trouble, tamper, or sabotage issue, not a sensitivity knob.
- Optical masking: stickers, paint, grease, aerosol spray, tape, a bag, or a hanging garment over a PIR window. Spray for dust that fogs the Fresnel lens is still a mask.
- Microwave masking or blocking: metal, foil, or a dense object in the field; range pot turned to zero.
- Intentional sabotage: an intruder who knows AND logic can cover the PIR window and walk in microwave-only, or stuff the unit.
- Accidental masking: holiday decorations, stacked boxes, a new television back.
Some commercial PIRs include anti-mask (active infrared or similar supervision of the window) and report trouble when the lens is covered. Many residential units do not. A walk-test that worked last year does not prove the lens is clean this year. Maintaining under 195.1(d) includes inspection and testing to detect these problems. If you find paint or spray, you repair or replace; you do not turn up sensitivity to compensate.
Factory segment masks applied per instructions remain legitimate. The difference is documented, reversible, listing-allowed blanking of unused zones versus uncontrolled covering of the sensor.
Creep zones and the crawl path
Confirm look-down / creep coverage when the listing includes it. During the walk-test, crawl or have a helper pass at floor level along the mounting wall. If the walk-test LED never latches, the creep zone is dead, painted, or never existed on that lens. Do not assume a volumetric drawing includes look-down.
Walk-test
A walk-test proves the installed pattern against the listing drawing and the owner's paths.
- Put the detector and zone in walk-test (LED enable, chime, or panel walk-test mode as listed).
- Close the room as it will be used (doors, HVAC state if it will run at night).
- Walk the catch paths: entry from the likely breach, crossing the room, and the crawl under the unit if look-down is claimed.
- Walk the nuisance paths: next to HVAC, along glass, pet routes, and outside the room if microwave leak is possible.
- For dual-tech, follow the instructions for testing each technology if a method is provided, then both.
- Confirm the panel receives the alarm, restores, and that pulse-count or sensitivity settings still catch a normal adult walk.
- Disable walk-test LEDs if the listing wants them dark in service (a lit LED is a map for an intruder on some jobs).
- Document what you tested. Maintaining under 195.1 includes testing to establish proper operating conditions.
If the unit will not catch a walk at listed range, you do not fix it by aiming at a register or by covering half the lens with electrical tape. You change height, location, pattern, or technology.
Security motion versus fire occupancy, on the wall
A ceiling occupancy sensor for lighting may look like a motion detector. It is applied for energy and often wants doorway traffic. A security PIR is applied to avoid HVAC and glass stimuli and to report an alarm zone. Putting a lighting occupancy sensor on a burglar zone, or aiming a security PIR like a lighting sensor at the corridor and the diffuser, is a category error this exam will punish. Fire-alarm detectors are Module 4.
A Queens walk-up example: the owner wants one PIR to cover the parlor and the stair. A volumetric unit at the parlor wall, aimed at the stair, will see the cat as a large target and will see stack-effect drafts. The listing-faithful job is a parlor volumetric or dual-tech at listed height, contacts on the stair door, and a walk-test that includes a crawl under the unit. False alarms from bad placement are not only a service call. They train the owner to ignore the system and they feed local false-alarm ordinances and GBL §69-vvv (Chapter 12). The eight hours in Module 3.II exist because motion is where catch, nuisance, and licensed work meet.
Under 19 NYCRR 195.1, placing and connecting a motion detector on a security alarm system is which of the following?
Pet-immune ratings on security motion detectors come from which source?
After mounting a security PIR, what should the installer do to prove coverage?